JORIS BAUDOIN

Picturing museums

European museums of contemporary art are visited.These visits are described in the book Picturing museums.Every museum visit is followed by a new artworkAround 2022 the book and the exhibition will be presented.

The countries

Ax, In response to Reina Sofia

<

>

Ax in response to Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia Madrid2015, reinforced concreteThe Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía is a huge building, an old palace with a modern extension wing.In addition to the existing collection, the Reine Sofia has two interesting exhibitions, one about the contemporary Spanish artist Juan Luis Moraza, and another about the work of Mathias Goeritz (1915 - 1990), a German sculptor, painter and architect. As a builder of concrete sculptures in public spaces, the models and photographs of the mostly concrete images under construction are personally very captivating. The work of my contemporary, Juan Luis Moraza is a relief to me, because it is almost the only significant range of contemporary art in Madrid at the moment. You can see different collections there. A collection of sculptures constructed from pipes, a collection of chrome entrails and hanging masks and a collection of pieces of Plexiglas and picture frames. Objects or parts of objects are taken out of context. Like many others, Moraza takes objects out of context. Another room houses the stainless steel sculptures. These are of spades, broom handles, axe heads, hoes, pickaxes and other tools. Grouped together or in a small group together with a chrome ornament. Alienation everywhere. What intrigues me most is three, brand new, neatly welded demolition hammers. Their heads are welded together across each other, so even if you had three hands to grab the hammer, you could not use it to hammer in any particular direction. I instantly start brooding on it. Here's what to do, but differently. I'm going to make an impossible axe. When I get back to the Netherlands I’ll buy an ax handle. Photo 2: Juan Luis Moraza, Hammers, Reine Sofia MadridPhoto 3: Mathias Goeritz, Snake, Reine Sofia Madrid